BUTLER TOWNSHIP -- A haunted trail in Luzerne County was vandalized and almost all the decorations at the attraction destroyed, but the volunteers who put together the attraction, won't let that stop them.
A group of volunteers in Luzerne County decided to put together a haunted trail for Halloween, in part, to support needy families. But not too long after opening, vandals destroyed the attraction, forcing it to temporarily close.
It took more than two dozen volunteers about six weeks to put up 10 scenes for that haunted trail near Drums. In one night, all that work was gone.
Now, those volunteers have been working overtime to redo all their work before the Halloween season ends.
Graffiti was spray painted on many of the props, some were set on fire, and almost every scene on the trail was ransacked at Everscream Haunted Trail on the grounds of Evergreen Raceway near Drums.
"We were heartbroken," said volunteer Keri Fisher. "This was a lifelong dream of my niece to put together her own haunted attraction. It was just the right time, the right place, the right location. Everything was donated to us."
That includes two cars that were just temporarily donated. Vandals smashed every window on the cars and threw small boulders on the hood of the cars, causing giant dents.
"It's just horrible to know that you got these people to help and volunteer and a group effort came together and people are trying to tear that apart," said volunteer Andrew Boyle.
Vandals destroyed about 90 percent of the decorations along the haunted trail, forcing the attraction to temporarily close. It's taken volunteers about a week to repair all the damage and now they finally plan to reopen.
The trail isn't quite what it was, but it's still important for the volunteers that Everscream opens back up, in part, so that people have a family-friendly attraction to visit this weekend and so that this attraction can raise money for volunteers of "Loving," an organization that helps needy families in ways other agencies don't.
"Last night, I got a phone call from a family looking for shoes for their children. Their children don't have shoes that fit them, so simple things like that, that are every day taken for granted by us. Someone needs shoes for their child. Well, proceeds from this will go buy that child shoes."
Everscream opens Friday at 7p.m.
The volunteers there hope to attract a crowd with a discounted entrance fee this weekend of $7.
Authorities are asking anyone with information on the vandalism to contact Butler Township Police.